Restart
by an Oldman obsession
Summary: 2 yrs post TDK. Things are turning back to normal. Comm Gordon survived a divorce & is raising his son alone. Until a new ADA shows up & the past catches up. Rated T for some violence & language down the road. Jim/OC
1. Chapter 1

_((**A/N**: This is a re-hash of an old idea I had that wasn't working but I think I might have the bugs worked out. It's 2 yrs post The Dark Knight. NO I** don't **own anyone but Erin and random characters. In short if you don't recognize them I own them. R & R Please? Thanks))_

The young brunette looked up from the paper when she felt the train slowing and when it stopped and the announcement was made that she was in Gotham City, a small smile lit her face and she gathered her bag and her laptop and headed off the train and inside the station. Finding her suitcase, she looked around the terminal and headed for the front of the station to call a cab. Once safely secured inside, she settled back after giving the driver instructions to head for 1328 State Street.

Twenty minutes later, the cab pulled up to a duplex and helped her out with her luggage, the girl tipped him and he drove off. First new place. Soft sigh as she opened the door and walked in.

It was gorgeous and homey all at once. The prospects were huge but the little place held its own charm. She set the suitcase by the door as she locked it and headed for the kitchen. All new appliances as promised as well as new carpet and flooring. Okay. Time to check in at the new job. She walked over to the stairs and went up, checking on the bedroom and bath, all the while pulling out her cell phone and calling the District Attorney's office.

"Hello, is Mr. Addison in? My name's Erin Ramsey. I have an appointment with him in the morning, he hired me for one of the Assistant positions and he told me to call to check when I got in town. Mhmm! Okay thank you" As she waited for the DA, she checked all around the bathroom and bedroom and was already designing a scheme in her mind for colors and styles. "Oh, sure! Yeah no problem. The Ocelot? Seven? I know it. Thanks a lot! I'll talk to him then." She shut off the phone and put it back into her pocket. She now had three hours to find something suitable for a dinner meeting at one of THE chic-est restaurants in town.

Oy.

At 6:45 p.m., she was in front of the maitre'd asking to be shown to the D.A.'s table. She was "expected". Of course she was. She was led along to the table in a corner where three men were sitting, laughing – but not loudly – and when she walked up, they all rushed to their feet and the waiter pulled her chair out for her.

Mr. Mitch Addison was an older man of maybe his late 60s, grey hair and a jovial smile that was indeed infectious. He had been the District Attorney of Gotham since Harvey Dent was murdered. _Erin nodded and agreed that that had been a tragedy indeed._

To his left was the Prince of Gotham. Bruce Wayne, himself. Looking to be in his mid to late 30s. Dark hair and a twinkle in those little boy eyes. There was something going on in his mind, you could see it. _Wouldn't be surprised if **he** had a few skeletons._

Then to the right of the DA was the commissioner of the Gotham Police, Jim Gordon. She couldn't read him. _But then she never could. Even after all these years, he never changed. Hm._

After introductions all around, the wine flowed, dinner was brought, an "informal" lets-get-to-know-her interview, and finally at 11:15, Erin had to excuse herself to get home. "I have to make sure that I'm on time tomorrow morning." She said, with more laughter from the DA and Bruce, who even offered, "Well if you want to go in late, and your –boss- is later, it's not like you don't know why."

"Mr. Wayne, that's blackmail, I believe," she said with a small smile.

"Also called saving your ass when the boss comes down on it. "He said softly, with a playful wink.

"Getting me in trouble already. I'm going to have to watch you, aren't I?"

Gordon stood up and looked at his watch. "Matter of fact that sounds like an idea. The sitter is costing a fortune as it is. I can make sure Erin gets home safely. I'll see you guys tomorrow?" He said, pushing in his chair and also hers, moving away from the table, following her around the waiters and such as they were putting the chairs up for the night.

Once outside, she wrapped the shawl around her shoulders as he led her along to the Cadillac Escalade the valet brought up immediately. Helping her into it, then around to get behind the wheel himself, he pulled away from the curb.

"I heard you got the job. I'm glad you came back." He said, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the road ahead.

"I had to." She said softly. "I heard what happened. Then with 'her' leaving…I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It's better. She got what she wanted…a life away from Gotham…" and a quiet growl, "And me." Then he straightened up again. "But at least she left Jimmy with me. He'll be thrilled when he sees you again. He cried for weeks when you left."

She smiled as she looked out the window when she thought about the rambunctious now -10 – year - old. But he was just 3 when she'd left. She was 13 when she was hired to watch over the sergeant's son. She was a foster kid two doors down and adored children. She was Jimmy's sitter for the first 3 years of his life and they had gotten close. Since she had grown close to Jimmy, and he was the heartbeat in his father's body, it was natural that she also had grown close to Jim. Apparently close enough that Barbara had felt she had no control over her son or her husband and in a fit of rage she fired the 16 year old girl. But Erin didn't hold grudges. It was time to leave, anyway. She had to. Things were changing and she needed to concentrate on school. She graduated Gotham High school early and moved away to go to college. She graduated with a law degree and had worked at the County DA's office in Cook County, Illinois, but there was nowhere to go there so when she found out that they were looking for 2 new ADA's for Gotham, she couldn't pass it up.

She applied.

Was accepted.

Moved back home.

"How've you been?" she asked in the softest of voices, looking at him sideways.

He shot a look at her and a slight shrug. ""Been better. Been worse. But it seems things are easing out." A grin at her. "Lookin' a lot better, actually."

She laughed softly, turning her attention back to the road as he pulled up in front of her building. He got out and went around helping her as well. Following her upstairs, he couldn't fight the urge to study her closely. _She looked not one bit different. She was still full of life. Full of fun. Long brown hair falling into soft curls down her back past her shoulders and he couldn't stop from putting a hand on her back to "guide her" but letting his fingertips brush against her hair. Hazel eyes still full of fire and always smiling. She had always been that way. Even when she was 16._

But then that little voice jolted him back to reality. _"What the HELL do you think you're doing?"_

"Welp! Here I am." She said, turning at the door and looking up at him, catching a hint of…something….on his face. "Want to come in? I have some really good tea."

For a split second he….._No! You can't_…..but she's an old friend! _Do you remember WHY she left?_ If course I do. That was –her- doing. Not mine_. Still..._. Yes. You're right.

"I should get home." He said softly. "It's good to see you again, Erin. I've missed you." He gave a kiss to her forehead and reluctantly turned and headed back to the SUV. Watching to make sure she got inside the door, he got into the truck and headed home.

Maybe Gotham wouldn't be as bad as he thought now.


	2. Chapter 2

_((**A/N **No I don't own any Dark Knight characters. I DO own Erin and a few random OCs. Remember the motton: If they weren't in the movie, they're mine. R&R please? Thanks! Enjoy))_

He had read the same paragraph over and over.

For the last 35 minutes he hadn't been able to keep his mind on anything.

Well…that wasn't 'entirely' true.

Her eyes. Her smile. Her laugh. Her face.

"Jesus Christ! What the hell…." He stood up, and headed for the coffee machine across the office. Pouring a cup and walking back to his desk, sitting down, but rather than face the stacks of files and reports, he turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office behind him.

It had been a bit over 2 years. Loeb had been assassinated. Rachel murdered. Batman took the blame. All to cover up the fact that the Joker had turned the White Knight into a crazed killer. Eventually people forgot. Or maybe they forgave. Batman didn't stop. He only increased his efforts to bring criminals down in Gotham. And there was still "the order". Arrest the Bat on sight.

Now…in the midst of everything working out once more…she had come back.

He could hear it all over again.

_"Barbara, you fired Erin?"  
"Of course I did! I'm not doing anything. I should be taking care of Jimmy."  
"But we agreed, darling that you needed to take things easy. That's why we hired her."  
She'd lost it then. "So you're saying I'm not 'capable' of taking care of my family? You're saying I'm defective and that it's fine for a little tart to just waltz in and take over while I sit in some corner and watch?"_

_That's when he knew. That's when he read it in her eyes. She suspected him, and in his heart he couldn't argue. But in all fairness, life with his wife was at an end. He could only agree with her to forestall the inevitable. She'd been through so much already. Waiting for him on long nights when most times he didn't even **get** to go home and then the inevitable fight in the morning. That was…if she deemed it 'necessary' to talk to him at all. Then the whole affair with Harvey kidnapping her and the kids. He honestly didn't blame her for hating him. But she should have known._

_He'd missed Erin. He hadn't realized how much, really. She was just someone bright and bubbly. Fun to talk to. She might have been a teenager but it seemed she was far more mature and doing what she could to make her way in the world. Nothing got her down. Watching her playing with the kids when they was younger. When he had to tell his son that she wasn't coming back any more, Jimmy cried. Snort! Even when his mother abandoned them he didn't cry. His first words were "Can Eri come back, Daddy?" How he would have loved to tell him "Sure let me run down the street and…."_

Sigh.

But now she **_was_** back. And she hadn't changed a bit. Ok. Maybe she got a bit taller. That forced a small twitch of a smile from the commissioner, but then he realized. He hadn't had a chance to tell Jimmy that she was indeed back. He'd gotten home late last night from dinner and this morning he had to be in a meeting with Garcia at 7am so he was gone before Jimmy was up for school.

He made a mental note to tell the boy tonight, but then thought, w_hy don't we have her over for dinner?_ He could stop and get something on the way. She didn't have to know he couldn't make pizza or Chinese. Smirk. _Hey! He'd even gotten the cute little take-out boxes so it was really authentic._

That idea made him chuckle out loud and he shook his head. Suddenly the day wasn't such a total loss and now the reports weren't SO daunting. He turned back around and began working on them, signing requisitions and getting rid of everything he could right now.

Finally after another hour of paperwork, he got up from his desk, grabbed his jacket from the coat tree and headed out of his office.

"Commissioner?" Sophie, his secretary said, puzzled as he seemed in a rush.

_Crap!_ He stopped for a moment and looked at her. "I have to run to the D.A.'s office for a bit, Sophie. Shouldn't be too long. Cancel my meetings this afternoon, just in case, hm?"

He headed for the elevators, hitting the button that would take him down to the DA's offices, and when the doors opened, he stepped inside and was about to push the button but froze.

_What the hell are you doing?_

"Nothing! Just going down to ask Erin if she'd like to have dinner."

_Really? That's "all"?_

"Oh please. Why are you even bothering me? "

He hit the button for the floor and the doors closed.

_You can try and fool yourself into believing that…but we both know it's a lie._

"Jimmy would love to see her again and she even said…"

_She was being polite. Maybe even giving you an excuse?_

"What the hell do I need an excuse for?"

_For what you're about to do. The great and revered GCPD commissioner about to ask a girl half his age on a date. Shall we even go on that she used to be THE BABYSITTER?_

He rolled his eyes as he watched the numbers change on the LED dinging off the floors.

"Stop it. She's a -friend-. That's all."

_That's what you tried to make yourself believe 10 years ago, too. Funny old world, huh?_

"Will you PLEASE stop? Jesus. Besides, Jimmy WILL be there so…it's a friendly dinner."

For some unnerving reason the voice chose that moment to stay silent.

The doors opened and he stepped out and headed for the ADA's offices which flanked the District Attorney's. One belonged to a girl he'd met on a few occasions. Stacey Wells. Nice enough young lady. Pushy at times. Across the hall was Erin's office. He started to knock on the door then stopped waiting for that annoying voice to come back…..count to five…..when it didn't, he knocked.

"Come in!" came the harried call and Jim pushed open the door, a small smile seeing that the life of an ADA wasn't much different – paperwork wise – than a commissioner's. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, bangs falling into her eyes, as usual. He stepped in, but she put a finger to her lips to make him aware to be quiet as she reached under a stack of manila files and pulled one out.

"Got it! Well, Mr. Resh, it seems that your client **was** caught with …7.2 grams of black tar heroin on him. He'll be charged with a felony."

"You can't DO that! He's been going to his substance abuse meetings and been working a steady job!" a voice commanded back from the speakerphone. "This is just a little setback, Erin, Please. Cut the guy some slack."

"Sorry. He screwed up and got caught. Wouldn't waste much sleep on this one, Nate. Talk to ya later!" and she clicked the button off before the defense attorney had a chance to reply. "Stupid thugs and their money hungry ambulance chasing attorneys."

Jim sat down and blinked for a moment, confused. "I thought Resh was a public defender?"

She nodded with an evil smirk. "He is. But he gets paid by the county for each client. So he has to put up a show that he 'tried' to do his job so when the client's convicted ol' Jojo can't scream that his lawyer didn't do anything. Happens all the time."

Jim had to snicker. "But…_you're_ an attorney. So does that make you an amb—"

Raising one hand to him, index finger up. "I, my good commish, am a public servant to keep the people safe. I do not let these thugs go. I am an attorney of the _highest_ caliber." Finally slumping back in her chair, crossing her arms, she looked at him with that same smile. "So what do I owe this honor to?"

He shrugged, seeing her relax made him relax as well. "Just wanted to come by and make sure things are going all right for you. Make sure you're settling in. Maybe invite you to dinner with me and Jimmy tonight?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. The office is great and sure, it sounds good."

He looked at her for the longest time. "You're sure? You….don't mind."

A soft snort and a wave of one hand. "Why should I mind? It was either I sit at home with take out from Mr. Ping's or just going home to bed." A brow lifted just a bit. "What's for dinner?"

He looked down and snickered softly before admitting in a sheepish tone, "I was planning take out from Mr. Ping's."

They both cracked up at that one and she nodded. "Still sounds good. I miss Jimmy. How's he getting along?"

Jim quieted a bit and studied her face. "He'll be 12 this year. Still bitter and angry at his mother. I can't even bring her up in any conversation with him around. For a while there, he was getting into fights at school almost every day."

The smile disappeared as she listened. "Bitter because she left you guys?"

He shook his head. "No. Actually he was glad when she did. He hated her when she sent you away. After she did that, for the last while she was with us he hardly spoke to her." A slight shrug. "I guess I should have said something to him. But honestly I didn't want to. I thought she deserved it. Then the day I picked him up from school and we got home, we found she left and read the note and everything of hers, and Babs, was gone….we went out for ice cream." He looked back up at her. "I guess I do owe her one, though. If you were still with us…you might have been one of Dent's casualties."

"I'm not afraid of ol' Harvey. But I heard about that, too." She shook her head as she began to play with a pencil. "That's sad. She had no right to take anything out on you. You had a bloody job to do. I'm sorry to speak ill of her, but if she couldn't see that then she didn't deserve you." A soft sigh. She could see how the last 2 years had put a hard drain on the man and she shook her head. "So what about the fights? Jimmy's."

:"He'd get into fights defending Batman. Kids in school would say things I know they heard their parents saying but it would piss Jimmy off to no end so…..he…would jump them and I'd get a call. He hasn't done that for a while yet. At least the last 5 months or so."

"Good." She said with a nod. "I'd hate to have to walk in tonight 'Jimmy! Hug hugs kiss kiss now DON'T FIGHT! Spank spank!"

That got another laugh out of him and she could tell he was lightening up. He needed to.

"OH! I got this great couple of movies. Maybe we can watch them! Definitely kid-friendly!" she offered.

"Sounds good! Bring 'em." Considering he hadn't actually sat down to watch a movie in the theatre OR at home for the last….how long has it actually been now?

"Okay! So you provide food and I'll provide entertainment and I'm sure Jimmy will provide us both with a reason to sleep till September just from overzealousness alone."

He stood up and nodded. "All right. I'll be out of here at 5. Want me to drop by and pick you up on my way home?"

She stood up when he did and walked around her desk towards him. "No I'm fine. Got m'self a 'company owned' Prius and I'll zoom myself over there about 6ish?"

He nodded and headed for the door. "Sounds like a plan, kiddo. See ya later."

Before he could say anything, he felt her hand on his arm and when he turned to look at her, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "I can't wait". She whispered softly before letting him go.

He had hugged her back, tentatively at first, but then realize how long it had been and tightened his hold around her, burying his face into her hair for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I know. he said back to her, a kiss to her temple and he pulled back, opening the door. "We'll see you later."

He left her office and went back to his now in a much better frame of mind and the rest of the afternoon flew by. When his watch alarm went off at 5, he leapt out of his chair, nearly flew past Sophie who was getting ready to leave and down to the truck.

Tonight…was already shaping up to be an evening to remember.


	3. Chapter 3

_((Don't own anything canon. Yes I do own Jessye and Erin and the occasional players. Not getting any money for this. Probably a good idea. I'd just blow it on comics. Enjoy!))_

"HEY! Jim!" Lieutenant Harvey Bullock growled. "You even listenin' t'me?"

Jim blinked a few times and his gaze focused on Harvey, offering the detective an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Harv. What was that?"

Harvey- a Lieutenant in the MCU, bit overweight and seeming to only have a modest knowledge of a razor at any given moment of the day. Preferred cheap cigars and booze to anything fancier than what he could buy with the change in his pocket at the time. Usually growled rather than spoke which made others turn and walk the other way seeing him approaching- looked at Jim for a moment then at Jessye Ryan, his partner standing beside him, and then eyes narrowed at his boss once more, the unlit cigar shifted from one side of his mouth to the other. "I said….that Jessye 'n' I are goin' to lunch. Wanna go?" Wry smirk. "She said she's buyin'."

Jessye, a detective 1st class, petite and full of piss and vinegar, gave a mock glare at the lieutenant and a snort along with an elbow to his arm. "What a gentleman."

Harvey snorted and snickered. "You love me and you know it." He said with a playful gruff to his voice before looking back at Jim.

Jim looked at his two detectives and stood up, a quick shake of his head. "No thanks, you two. Go ahead and go without me. Harvey, I'm going to do a…ah….an errand. I should be back in a couple of hours. Hold down the fort, huh?" Grabbing his coat and taking off out of his office and heading for the elevators.

Harvey watched him bolt and a grunt. "Huh. Never seen him act like _that_ before. Wonder what's shakin'?"

"Oh please. Turn off the snoop-ray. The man has things to do. Probably with Jimmy or something. Come on, flatfoot. Let's go get a salad." Jessye said, a shoulder nudge as she shoved her hands into her coat pockets and headed for the elevators herself.

"You make me eat a salad and no matter _how_ much I like ya, I'll be forced t'kill you. " Harvey grumbled as he followed her along.

.

.

.

Sitting at the diner an hour later, a half-eaten cheeseburger in front of her, Jessye settled back in the booth seat and watched Harvey as he finished his off with gusto. Looking up and seeing her watching him, he smirked around the burger and grabbed the napkin to wipe his mouth off before he downed the rest of the coffee.

"I know that look." He said.

"You should. You've seen it enough."

"Don't do it, Jess. If Jimbo wants us to know he'll tell us. You said yourself, stop snooping."

"I meant to YOU. Not me." She said, taking a sip of her lemonade.

"Yanno, girlie…this whole 'good for the goose ain't nuthin' to the gander' thing…we're gonna have to straighten this out before…uh…" catching himself in mid-thought he stammered a bit before shoving the last French fry into his mouth.

A brow quirked. "Before….what?"

"Nuthin'." He mumbled.

She snickered softly. It had been rumored, mentioned and accused. But no one had ever been able to actually put the pair together after hours. Too bad. It was true. But they both loved driving the other detectives nuts with all their needling and trying to worm it out of either of them.

"You need to take a meditation class or something." She said softly, her gaze traveling around the few faces in the diner out of habit.

"Oh yeah?" Playful snort. "Well _you_ need ta….awww forget it." He growled a wave of his hand at her.

Jessye snickered softly. She did adore him. He was so gruff and overbearing to everyone but to his friends he was dedicated and protective. Even to the death. No one would really ever see the Harvey Bullock she'd come to know over the last 2 years…but then she didn't _want_ anyone to know. Then he'd lose his….well…for lack of a better word…..'charm'.

"You about ready to get back?" she asked, standing up and digging in her pocket for the money for the check.

Harvey stood up and glared at her. "What th'Hell you think you're doin'?"

Jess blinked as she grabbed the ticket. "Mmmm…getting money out to pay?"

Harvey snatched the ticket out of her hand and turned to head for the cashier muttering about broads that don't know their places and should all be home raising babies and making sandwiches.

Jessye had to crack up as she headed for the door to hold it open for him but when he got to her; he halted and glared at her once more. "Yer gonna make me kick yer ass, ain't you?"

She snorted and nodded for him to go through the door first. "As if you could keep up. I don't have to take a break every three minutes, pal. Deal with it. I'm in WAY better shape." She smirked, heading for the black sedan parked in front of the restaurant.

"You drive, hotshot!" he said as he tossed her the keys and snorted as he got in the passenger seat.

"Yeah at least then we might get back to work on time." She replied, sliding in behind the wheel and starting the car, heading back to the GPD.

…..

…..

…..

…..

Erin had to force her mind to co-operate.

While "it" wanted to keep flitting back to that night last week, "she" had to put the never ending line of drug runners and thugs away. At least get them off the streets for a bit.

When the judge's gavel pounded for the 7th time so far that afternoon, and "remand" was announced on Jack Murphy, some hoodlum from the Narrows that like rolling old ladies for their food stamps, she gave a sigh of relief. That case done, she opened the next file as a gang banger was led in in handcuffs and stood behind the defense table.

"So this must be Jeremiah Sanc. You've been brought here for possession, attempted burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon, attempt to do bodily harm and selling drugs to a minor. How do you plead?"

The young man snorted at the charges. " 'M innocent, ya honor. Was da cops dat put alla dat stuff on me an' said alla dat."

"I'm sure," Judge Tober said. She looked at Erin. "Counsel? What does the DA's office recommend?"

"Your honor, the defendant is a flight risk as he has family in Metropolis and Florida. We request remand."

"Your honor," Clarence, the public defender whined. "This is unreasonable. My client has no 'way' to 'run' anywhere and has some family here in Gotham."

"Sure if you call a 'gang' family." Erin cut in with a growl.

"I see your point, Erin." Judge Tober said and a look at the defendant again. "AS per the DA's request we are going to remand. Bailiff, take custody of the defendant." The gavel came down again and the judge declared lunch.

Erin sighed softly and gathered the files she'd presented that morning and shoved them into her briefcase, then turned and headed for the doors. As she was walking by the last row of seats, she saw Jim and a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Hey, that was some mighty fine lawyering, Miss ADA." He said softly, standing up and opening the door for her.

She chuckled and walked out, then waited for him to catch up to her. "Just doin' my job, sheriff. What're you doing here? Won't the boys get restless back at th' bunkhouse?"

He smirked and walked along with her to the elevator. "Most likely. I left Harvey in charge for the next couple of hours. I'll probably have a full-scale revolt going on but…" a playful shrug. "What can I do? Wondered if you might like some lunch?" he said.

"Sounds GOOD. I'm famished!" she said, with a wide grin.

Inside the elevator, he pushed the button that would take them to the courthouse underground parking. "Oh and before I get mauled when he finds out I didn't say it fast enough, Jimmy says hi."

She laughed at that and shook her head. "He hasn't changed." A sideways look at him with a playful smirk. "But he's growing up more like you, pal."

"I doubt that. He's got a lot of something in him. I doubt that it's me. What do you feel like?"

"Italian sounds good. Is Martinelli's still there?"

He nodded. "Yep. Still has the best pizza and lasagna in town." He said, and a smile when the doors opened. He held them for her, his free hand sweeping towards the garage. "My lady…"

"Why sir! How genteel of you." a snicker and she headed into the parking garage.

Once they had arrived at the restaurant, Danny, the maitre 'd, led them to a table more away from everyone and pulled out Erin's chair for her before handing them two menus. "What would you like to drink?" he asked. "I know! I know. Tea for the commissioner." He said with a wave of his hand.

"Sounds good for me, too, Danny. Thanks." She said and the young man left them. She looked across the table at him. "Tea, huh?"

He looked down at the checkered tablecloth and nodded. "Sometimes things got tough. Seemed the only way out was the bottle. Then when Jimmy found me passed out in the car one morning while he was on the way to school….I knew things had to change. Besides…." He offered with a smile up at her. "I'm still on duty."

She smiled and nodded, a "thank you" when the waiter delivered two glasses of iced tea. "Healthier for you anyway." She said.

He looked up into her eyes again. "Never judging. Never….haranguing. You truly haven't changed."

"Well yeah I have. A bit." She smirked. "I was only 16 then. I didn't know about things as much as I'd liked to. But I also learned you can't judge a book….and all that."

"I somehow didn't think you would ever be the sort, ya know?" A smile and a nod at the waiter for the tea and his attention back to her. "So you're definitely getting used to it, hm?"

She nodded as she stirred the tea. "It's actually like I was always meant to be here. God! I missed Gotham so much when I left."

Jim had to smile. "Really? I know quite a few people that would argue with that, counselor."

"They're idiots. Gotham's not great. But we do have our perks. Well other than Wayne owning every damn thing in the city. But actually, our crime rate isn't much worse than say New Your City."

They watched as Don, the waiter, set the plates of lasagna and ravioli in front of them. "If you need anything else….I'll bring some more breadsticks." He said and left.

"New York, huh? Well that'd be impressive, Eri, if we were as _big_ as New York." He said with a laugh.

She snickered, and faltered for a moment. "Eri. You haven't called me that since….." but then a sigh as she looked down at the plate and but into one of the raviolis.

"Since before you left. Yeah. I know. Sorry." He said softly. "I….didn't mean to…bring it all back. Lord knows I've been trying to forget."

She shook her head and a small smile crossed her lips. "I like it, actually. No one ever called me that before or after." And seeing his smile as well, she blushed and looked back down at the plate. "I missed it most of all, I think. Jimmy. Clara street, you."

He looked at her and blinked.

Erin's gaze met his and she snickered quietly. "Yes, commissioner-not-not-then. You were always so sweet to me. Never a harsh word. Never curt."

Jim grew a bit uncomfortable and pushed his plate away a bit. "I'm…sorry for what Barbara did, Erin. Truly. I…had no clue how she felt. What she thought."

Erin shook her head and offered an easygoing little smile. "I understand. Granted I didn't then. But over time I got the idea. And personally? I might have done the same thing. Well…not the whole up 'n' leaving you. But…being jealous."

"Seems like she didn't think much on it, either. She just…."

"Did it." Erin finished.

"Yeah." Seeing Don coming back over, he gestured to the plate and hers and a doggy bag motion. "Well, that's all in the past. That's…she's….moved back to Chicago."

Erin finished off her tea. "Well that's grand. I hope she finds whatever she's looking for. Since the best thing to happen to her is sitting here. In Gotham City." A playful wink and her voice lowered just a touch. "With the babysitter."

Jim had to laugh a bit and shook his head. "Why do I get the feeling **you** are going to mean trouble for me, my ear?"

"You have no idea, Commissioner Gordon." She said with a smirk. "No idea whatsoever."


End file.
